(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to calender roll machines, and more particularly to means for adjustably crossing the axis of one roll in a calender roll machine with respect to an adjacent roll in that calender roll machine.
(2) Prior Art
Calender roll machines are machines having a plurality of generally horizontally disposed rolls each journalled between a pair of frames. The rolls may produce between them, plastic films at high speeds and temperatures, to gauges as thin as several thousandths of an inch, within tolerances of less than plus or minus one ten-thousandth of an inch.
When material is introduced between the rolls, and when one roll is arranged over the other, the material therebetween causes them to deflect, resulting in a sheet which is thicker or heavier along its center. If the axis of the top roll is crossed or skewed with respect to the axis of the lower roll, a crown effect is obtained. Too great a crossing would result in a sheet having a thin center. Thus, the amount of crossing must be regulated to produce a sheet of uniform thickness.
Cross axis systems of the prior art include gear and screw mechanisms built into the frame supporting the rolls, which require internal housing parts and large cut-outs in the frame of the calender, as well as large chips to control thrust of the roll where the bearings would otherwise have been mated with the frames.